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The Trouble with Harry
The Trouble with Harry is a 1955 American black comedy film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The screenplay by John Michael Hayes was based on the 1949 novel by Jack Trevor Story. It starred Edmund Gwenn and John Forsythe; Jerry Mathers and Shirley MacLaine, in her first film role. The Trouble with Harry was released in the United States on October 3, 1955, then re-released in 1984 once the distribution rights had been acquired by Universal Pictures. The action in The Trouble with Harry takes place during a sun-filled autumn in the Vermont countryside. The fall foliage and the beautiful scenery around the village, as well as Bernard Herrmann's light-filled score, all set an idyllic tone. The story is about how the residents of a small Vermont village react when the dead body of a man named Harry is found on a hillside. The film is, however, not really a murder mystery; it is essentially a romantic comedy with thriller overtones, in which the corpse serves as a Macguffin. Four village residents end up working together to solve the problem of what to do with Harry. In the process the younger two (an artist and a very young, twice-widowed woman) fall in love and become a couple, soon to be married. The older two residents (a captain and a spinster) also fall in love. Plot The quirky but down-to-earth residents of the small hamlet of Highwater, Vermont, are faced with the freshly dead body of Harry Worp (Philip Truex), which has inconveniently appeared on the hillside above the town. The problem of who the person is, who was responsible for his sudden death, and what should be done with the body is "the trouble with Harry." Captain Wiles (Edmund Gwenn) is sure that he killed the man with a stray shot from his rifle while hunting, until it is shown he actually shot a rabbit. Jennifer Rogers (Shirley MacLaine), Harry's estranged wife, believes she killed Harry because she hit him hard with a milk bottle. Miss Gravely (Mildred Natwick) is certain that the man died after a blow from the heel of her hiking boot when he lunged at her out of the bushes (still reeling from the blow received at the hands of Jennifer). Sam Marlowe (John Forsythe), an attractive and nonconformist artist, is open-minded about the whole event, and is prepared to help his friends and neighbors in any way he can. In any case, no one is upset at all about Harry's death. However, they all are hoping that the body will not come to the attention of "the authorities" in the form of cold, humorless Deputy Sheriff Calvin Wiggs (Royal Dano), who earns his living per arrest. The Captain, Jennifer, Miss Gravely and Sam bury the body and then dig it up again several times throughout the day. They then hide the body in a bathtub before finally putting it back on the hill where it first appeared, in order to make it appear as if it was just discovered. Finally it is learned that Harry died of natural causes; no foul play at all was involved. In the meantime, Sam and Jennifer have fallen in love and wish to marry, and the Captain and Miss Gravely have also become a couple. Sam has been able to sell all his paintings to a passing millionaire, although Sam refuses to accept money, and instead requests a few simple gifts for his friends and himself. Cast * Edmund Gwenn as Capt. Albert Wiles * John Forsythe as Sam Marlowe * Shirley MacLaine as Jennifer Rogers * Mildred Natwick as Miss Ivy Gravely * Mildred Dunnock as Mrs. Wiggs * Jerry Mathers as Arnie Rogers * Royal Dano as Deputy Sheriff Calvin Wiggs * Parker Fennelly as Millionaire * Barry Macollum as Tramp * Dwight Marfield as Dr. Greenbow * Philip Truex as Harry Worp (the corpse) Category:Films Category:Live-action films Category:1955 films Category:Comedy films Category:Mystery films Category:PG-rated films Category:Theatrical Films Category:Acquired films Category:Paramount Pictures films Category:Non-Universal Studios